NAN-H-51
Radio
By Emmanuel Acha
Enugu, Dec. 14, 2016 (NAN) The Enugu State Government says it has leveraged on the ‘Radio School’ programme of the South Saharan Social Development Organisation (SSDO) to improve education in the state.
The state Commissioner for Education, Prof. Uche Eze, said this in Enugu on Wednesday during a town hall meeting.
Aze said that preliminary reports suggested improved learning by students, who were the target audience since the programme began in September.
The radio school programme of SSDO involves the broadcast of selected subjects by trained and experienced teachers, while the target students listen and direct questions to their class teachers.
The commissioner, who was represented by the Director of Schools in the ministry, Mr Frank Okoro, said that the state government was open to such collaborations with development partners.
“SSDO is doing well in the programme as that is the way to reach the wider audience.
“We look forward to a better synergy and working relationship with you,” he said.
Eze said that radio school broadcast had been embedded in the school curriculum as an in-school programme and “it has improved mass literacy across the state as most people listen from their homes”.
Speaking, the Executive Director of SSDO, Mrs Grace Nwobodo, said the town hall meeting was a prelude to another flagship radio programme of the group aimed at addressing exclusion of youths in politics.
Nwobodo said the latest programme tagged ‘The Awakening’ is a youth-focused civic enlightenment programme aimed at reducing political apathy among young people in the South East.
She said the programme was funded by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa and the Department for International Development.
“The overall objective is to deepen democracy and create an open society in Nigeria through the mass media by engaging the various youth strata on how to make constructive inputs to government plans.
“We observed that young people in the South East are excluded from discussing issues that are germane to their empowerment and this comes as an intervention,” she said.
Nwobodo said `The Awakening’ would press young people to demand full representation, involvement and participation in decision-making processes.
“It will encourage them take ownership and assist government and other relevant stakeholders to drive the process of transparency, accountability and fair implementation of development progarmmes,” Nwobodo said.
One of the participants, Miss Ebere Okoye, said the programme had become necessary following the widening gap between government and youths in terms of inclusion in the conduct of government affairs.
Okoye, who said efforts would be made to ensure that the enlightenment programme succeeded, praised SSDO for the initiative.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the town hall meeting was attended by participants from the five states in the South East zone.
NAN further reports that ‘The Awakening’ debuted in 2015 during which 29 editions, many of which, were dedicated to the general elections were broadcast.
The second phase of the programme is expected to start in the first quarter of 2017 and is also expected to be broadcast every Wednesday on Radio Nigeria, Enugu zonal network. (NAN)
EOA/FAT/YEE
Edited by Fatima Sule/Emmanuel Yashim
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